TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 2 Alabama garnered a five-run first inning en route to a 6-0 win over the No. 24 LSU softball team Sunday during the rubber game of a SEC series in-front of 2,684 fans at Rhoads Stadium.
The Tigers (29-10, 11-3 SEC) fell one game behind Alabama (37-2, 14-2 SEC) in the loss column at the top of SEC Western Division standings.
“It was great to come in here and get one win,” head coach Beth Torina said. “There are a lot of teams who have played Alabama and haven’t been able to do that. Of course, we would have liked to win the series. There’s a lot of softball that has to be played over the next four weeks. I feel we’re right where we need to be and still in the hunt for the SEC championship.”
With two outs in the first inning, Alabama’s Cassie Reilly-Boccia was hit-by-a-pitch. Kaila Hunt started a run of three straight singles, while Amanda Locke knocked a RBI single down the left field line for the game’s first run.
Jazlyn Lunceford connected for a two-run single through the middle just past the diving attempt of LSU second baseman Allison Falcon to push the Crimson Tide advantage to 3-0. Two batters later, Kendall Dawson deposited a two-run single to cap the frame and make it 5-0.
“We need to step up the next time we’re in that situation and stop the bleeding,” Torina said. “Somebody needs to step up and be a leader. We had two outs, and it’s a completely different ball game if we get one more play to get out of the inning.”
Brittany Mack retired nine of the next 10 batters she faced and posted three consecutive zeroes on the scoreboard before giving way to Rachele Fico. Mack dropped to 12-6 on the season.
The Crimson Tide also received a one-hit shutout from Jackie Traina’s right-arm. She retired the first 11 batters she faced before issuing a walk to Ashley Langoni. LSU’s lone hit came on an A.J. Andrews infield single during the fifth inning.
“I’m sure she felt the pressure to step up with a big performance after we got the win yesterday,” Torina said. “She was very tough today and a lot of credit goes to her. My biggest lessen for our players today was their response after we gave up the five runs. I didn’t think we had a very good response. That’s something we can change, it’s a mentality thing.”
LSU wraps up its season series Wednesday versus Southeastern Louisiana. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at North Oak Park in Hammond.
Live stats will be available in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net/live. There is no radio broadcast of Wednesday’s tilt on the LSU Sports Radio Network. Fans also can follow every pitch of LSU softball this season via live in-game updates on LSU softball’s social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsu_softball on Twitter.